Virus alert: Beware the return of Code Red

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the tech waters...

The malicious code contained in the 'Code Red' worm could cause it to strike again on 1 August, re-infecting machines and other vulnerable systems.

The bug, which attacks and defaces web pages running on Microsoft web servers, has infected at least 280,000 host systems in the first wave, according to security advisory group CERT.

The research group suggests taking vulnerable systems offline and applying an AV vendor patch to eliminate the weakness exploited by the code, which will begin propagating again from infected machines when their system clocks roll over to the next month.